- - New to water cooling
(http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/water-cooling/19838-new-water-cooling.html)

SquattingDawg

July 9, 2009 11:03 PM

New to water cooling

Hello all. So I'm building my first water cooled rig and I'm looking for a bit of advice. I've decided that I'm going to use 3/8" ID nozzles with 1/2" OD so that means i'm going to use 1/2" ID tubing. Correct me if I'm wrong. I've also decided that most of my parts are going to come from Koolance to make it easier on me. The parts I want to water cool are my GPU and chipset. I'm content with a nice fan and heatsink for my CPU. So here's the parts I'm putting into my rig:

Cooler Master HAF 932 case

EVGA GeForce GTX 275

EVGA E758-A1 mobo

Intel Core i7 920

6GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator Memory

WD 500GB HDD

CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W PSU

Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU heatsink

Here's what I plan to have go into the water cooling loop for the chipset and GPU(all from Koolance website):

I'm going to use a pump/res combo from Koolance: RP-1000BK
My GPU and chipset cooling blocks are also coming from Koolance and I'm planning on getting my radiator fans from Koolance.

My biggest decision is what radiator I should get. I'm ok with getting that from a different company. I've been looking at 3x 120mm radiator set-ups. I've found the Koolance one (obviously) and I've found stackable radiators from Swiftech:

MCR320 "QuietPower" stackable radiators (which seem pretty cool)

But I've also been referred to the Black Ice GTX 360 rad.

So if I go with the swiftech rad, I'm planning on stacking it. Is that over-kill? or is the Black Ice or Koolance radiators better than the stacked Swiftech?

MpG

July 9, 2009 11:23 PM

The most important question regarding radiator is going to be what kind of fans, and how fast are you going to be running them? Radiators are optimized for certain fan speeds, but will give up performance at other speeds. In your case, it's a pretty clear-cut difference. The Black Ice GTX radiators are optimized for higher fans speeds (say, ~1500rpm and higher), whereas the Swiftech radiators are optimized for speeds below that. I have yet to see any proper data on the Koolance radiators. Stacking the Swiftech rads is an option, but testing I've seen so far has suggested that forcing air through two radiators needs very high-speed fans before any real benefits are seen. Probably best to stick to single radiators, to be honest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SquattingDawg

I've decided that I'm going to use 3/8" ID nozzles with 1/2" OD so that means i'm going to use 1/2" ID tubing.

Hold up! Not correct. 3/8" ID on nozzles means that it's meant to for 3/8"ID tubing. A little confusing, I realize. You'll need to decide what kind of fittings you want to use for everything. Regular fittings, all you care about is the ID. Stick with 3/8" and you're golden. Compression fittings, you'll need to watch out for the outside diameter of the tubing as well. Depending on how thick the tubing walls are, you can get 3/8" tubing with either an 1/2" OD (Koolance tubing), or 5/8" OD (some other brands). You'll need to match up the proper compression fittings in order to get a proper seal.

SquattingDawg

July 9, 2009 11:55 PM

Thanks for clearing that nozzle/tube fitting misunderstanding I had there! That would not have been good eh?

So if I'm sticking with one radiator I'll go for the Black Ice GTX360 since I've heard it has twice the surface area of the Koolance. Just what I heard. So that probably means it's more dense so a more powerful fan comes to mind. I'm ok with noise for this rig. So for the fans maybe these:

So on the dilemma of the fittings, I've heard that compression fittings are more leak proof than barb fitting. Just another thing I've heard. Correct me if it's wrong. But based on that I'm thinking of compression fittings

MpG

July 10, 2009 12:06 AM

I'd go with the KL fans, personally. Better bearings, and less noise/airflow BS.

Personally, I'm of a mind that barbs+clamps is the most secure option, but the Koolance compressions are well-designed, so take your pick there. But again, make sure the compressions are specced for the proper ID and OD of tubing. And nothing from Koolance comes with barbs, so make sure you order enough for everything.

SquattingDawg

July 10, 2009 12:27 AM

Yeah I was planning on going with the Koolance fans in the first place. I just forgot to mention it.

I think I'll try going for these compression fittings and see how it works out for me.

Thanks again for helping me get this all sorted out. I tried posting this on two other forums and you alone have the most helpful!

you might want to check out Dazmode.com as well! it is a Canadian shop here that carrys Watercooling gear (not bad prices either)

as for the compression fittings, i love them!!! so much cleaner looking then the hose clamps

SquattingDawg

July 10, 2009 05:31 PM

Sweet thanks! I had looked them up, but only on the TFC company website and the prices I found were around $200. So I just overlooked them. But that price there is pretty competitive!

I think I'll do some shopping on dazmode! I've also been finding more and more guides and how-to's so maybe I'll venture away from koolance on a couple other parts as well.

Hell I think I might as well just water-cool my CPU based on what I've read on these guides.

Supergrover

July 10, 2009 05:42 PM

Ewwe Koolance, I personally would go with bitspower compression fittings, +1 for the fesser rad, primochill or feser tubing and maybe a 655 with a res attached. I hate baytype res's.

SquattingDawg

July 10, 2009 06:01 PM

Well the reason I decided Koolance at the beginning was because they just seemed to have everything. I mean I looked at other companies, but they didn't have the cooling block for the my mobo or they didn't have the block for my GPU. Koolance had it all.

But I'm slowly but surely learning more and more and thanks to you guys I'm finding parts that I wouldn't have found on my own.

I was looking at the bay/pump set up because I was just afraid I'd screw something up or not buy the right kind of pump if I got them separately. So I'm still learning and still being referred to different kinds of set-ups. Keep them coming because they are really helping me out. And if I don't get that Koolance bay pump/res, should I buy sensors for the water temps and all that fun stuff?

Also, are there any reasons I shouldn't get my cooling blocks from Koolance? Based on Supergrovers "Ewwwe" I'm guessing Koolance is low quality WC company?

Beermaster

July 10, 2009 06:06 PM

Just wondering why the Bitspower Fittings over the TFC ones Supergrover?